The leaders of both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will be in Raleigh in September for the American Mortgage Conference.

The event is being held at the Crabtree Marriott from September 18th through the 20th.

The conference brings together experts from the financial services industry, mortgage practitioners, policy makers, investors and economists to discuss issues related to the financing of housing.

This year there is no shortage of issues to discuss.

Chief among them is the future of Fannie and Freddie, the so-called government sponsored enterprises that were taken over by the government during the financial crisis.

There have been proposals to drastically reduce the role of Fannnie and Freddie -- or completely eliminate them -- moves that would radically change the how Americans finance homeownership going forward.

For more information on the September event go here.

N.C. Banking Commissioner Joseph A. Smith Jr. has withdrawn from consideration to be the top regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Bloomberg News reported, citing a White House statement.

President Barack Obama nominated Smith in November to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Smith failed to win U.S. Senate confirmation after objections from Republicans.

White House officials released a statement today saying that while Smith was “highly qualified” to oversee the two government-controlled mortgage companies. “Unfortunately, there is not a clear path to confirmation for his nomination at this point in time and Mr. Smith has asked not to be renominated.”

President Barack Obama today nominated North Carolina’s top banking official to oversee Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Obama tapped Joseph A. Smith Jr., the N.C. Commissioner of Banks, for the role of overseeing the quasi-governmental agencies just as they are about to undergo a re-structuring by Congress. He would have to be confirmed by a vote of the full Senate.

“Mr. Smith brings to this position both tremendous expertise and a deep commitment to strengthening our housing finance system for the American people,” Obama said in his nomination. “I’m grateful that he has accepted this nomination, and I look forward to working with him in the months and years to come.”

Smith also would over see the nation’s 12 Federal Home Banks. If confirmed, Smith would take charge at a critical time for the federal housing agency.
 

It's been a while since we heard anything about the fate of Project Prince and Project Cardinal, two economic development projects that had the potential to bring two major companies to Raleigh.

The companies behind the code-named projects were widely rumored to be Radio Shack (Prince) and Fannie Mae (Cardinal). Radio Shack is currently based in Fort Worth, Tex. while Fannie Mae has headquarters in Washington D.C. and major operations in Dallas.

On today's Highwoods Properties conference call, CEO Ed Fritsch was asked about the two projects by an analyst.

After saying that Highwoods did not know who the mystery companies were, Fritsch said the trail appears to have gone cold.

"We haven't heard much on them lately," Fritsch said.

Fritsch was also asked whether the leasing environment has improved in recent months in the markets where Highwoods operates.

Fritsch said the company is seeing more activity on the leasing front but it's not yet resulting in a lot of deals getting signed.

Fritsch said the Raleigh real estate investment trust believes its strong balance sheet is giving it an advantage in a leasing environment where brokers have become much more worried about a landlord's health and ability to pay out commissions.

Raleigh appears to be one of the cities in the running to land a major financial services company that is considering relocating.
In recent months a search team representing a company that could bring as many 1,000 jobs and eventually occupy 200,000 square feet of office space has made several visits to Raleigh.
The visits have been shrouded in secrecy, with the entire operation being dubbed "Project Cardinal," according to several real estate brokers. Those brokers say the mystery company is believed to be the Federal National Mortgage Association, or Fannie Mae, currently based in Washington D.C.
Fannie Mae, which buys loans from banks and sells them to investors, has received billions in taxpayer money since late last year. The company has about 5,800 employees with the large majority based at its headquarters in D.C. It also has a substantial presence in Dallas.
Brian Faith, a spokesman for Fannie Mae, said today that the company has no intention of moving its headquarters.
"I had heard that some people are saying that we're moving the whole company to Raleigh but that isn't the case," he said. "In terms of other staffing decisions and whatnot I'm not at liberty to comment right now."
Raleigh's main competition appears to be Nashville.

It's not quite a Mini Cooper, but the Mangum 506 condo project in Durham is offering buyers a $2,500 IKEA gift certificate if they put a unit under contract by the end of the month.

Susana Dancy, a co-developer of Mangum along with Andrew Philipps and Scott Harmon, said nine of the development's 21 units are still available.

Mangum 506's units are small, 672 to 1,220 square feet, with big windows and 10-foot ceilings. Remaining units are priced between $159,000 and $299,000, Dancy said.

Mangum's model units are designed by Nicole Baxter using almost all IKEA furniture. Dancy said the popularity of the model units--and IKEA's affordable prices--made the promotion a good fit.

Mangum is also hoping to get potential buyers attention while they still may be eligible for the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit. The tax credit is set to expire Dec. 1.

Mangum 506's two buildings were completed in August. Dancy said one of the building's has received Fannie Mae approval, while the other needs a few more owner-occupied sales to qualify.

As for offering Minis, Dancy admitted "that would be a little decadent for us."